How To Get Rid Of Muscle Pain After A Workout – Delayed-onset muscle soreness, also known as DOMS, describes muscle soreness and stiffness that occurs especially after strenuous exercise. Twenty20
“It’s going to hurt tomorrow.” We’ve all experienced this after a particularly hard workout or returning to the gym after a long break.
How To Get Rid Of Muscle Pain After A Workout
Delayed-onset muscle soreness, commonly known as DOMS, describes muscle soreness and stiffness that occurs after a strenuous workout. It typically peaks 24 to 48 hours after leaving the gym, says exercise physiologist Matt Untank, CSCS, director of training at Crossover Symmetry. “Although this process is complex and not fully understood, it is believed to be an inflammatory response due to the breakdown of muscle tissue.”
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But this break is not bad. “For a fit person who exercises regularly, I would consider the occasional bout of DOMS to be a good thing,” says Untank. “It suggests an increase in intensity and the introduction of new movements into the training program, both of which are great things for a training program.” In order for your muscles to repair, grow and strengthen, you first need to give them something to fix. And we’re talking about the same microscopic tears in your muscles that you might experience the morning after your workout.
So, how can you kill the pain without killing the results? Check out these five research-backed strategies.
Science: A study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Sports found that marathon runners who drank cherry juice five days before, the day of, and 48 hours after running had reduced muscle soreness. How’s that for the cherry on top? Athletes also showed signs of improved recovery and muscle function. Tart cherries are rich in anthocyanins, colorful antioxidant compounds believed to work their magic by reducing excess inflammation.
Try it: “In the context of regular exercise, good nutrition is sufficient where antioxidants are needed,” says Untank. But for an extra boost, you can add cherries, or just their juice, to your regular diet. Two servings per week during a typical workout, usually along with a nutrient-dense diet. However, if you’re training for a marathon, switching to a daily plan can be helpful. Don’t you love? Red raspberries are another great source.
Tips To Get Rid Of Muscle Pain After A Workout
Science: Many studies have shown that consuming caffeine before exercise can reduce muscle soreness and fatigue. In a study published in the journal Pain, the strategy showed athletes a 48 percent reduction in DOMS. In addition to improving everything in general, caffeine has analgesic properties (pain-relieving properties), which is why it’s often found in over-the-counter pain medications.
Try: One hour before a particularly strenuous workout, drink two cups of coffee (the amount of caffeine consumed in the Journal of Pain). Bonus: A 2014 PLOS ONE study shows that coffee, like hydrates and water, is worth considering when fighting muscle soreness. Dehydration during exercise can significantly worsen DOMS symptoms, reports the Journal of Athletic Training.
Science: Finally, it’s an excuse for spa days. A 2014 study found that post-exercise massage can significantly reduce soreness. In the long run, getting regular massages can increase your body’s ability to fight DOMS. Another study found that massaged muscles have more blood vessels than non-massaged ones, which can improve recovery. They also only show half of the stretch marks created by the massaged muscles. A little while isn’t bad.
Try: Try a sports massage directly after exercise. In the study, immediate massage was more effective in reducing tissue regeneration and fibrosis compared to delayed massage 48 hours after exercise.
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Science: Similar to massage, foam rolling is about myofascial release, which eases tension in the connective tissue of a muscle. And your trainer is right: Studies have found that stretching muscles like squats can help reduce later-onset muscle soreness. It can also improve performance in previous workouts.
Try it: Invest in a multi-roller (we’re big fans of the TriggerPoint Grid) and spend 10-15 minutes with it every day. You can do it as part of your warm-up, cool-down, and non-exercise days as part of your overall recovery. (Also, check out these five moves that may be missing from your repertoire.)
Science: Please review this permission to download the disc from time to time. In a 2012 study, women who cycled for 20 minutes after DOMS-inducing strength training experienced reduced muscle soreness, along with increased strength. “Light recovery exercise increases blood flow, which does a number of things to naturally enhance the inflammatory process, including lymphatic drainage, immune cell movement, and removal of inflammatory mediators,” explains Unthank.
Try: Incorporate low-intensity, recovery-oriented workouts throughout the week, refreshing your workouts with light cardio, she says. You don’t (and shouldn’t!) push yourself during every workout to get the ultimate results. Aerobic exercise, yoga, Pilates, and other low-impact exercises like running or cycling are great options for keeping DOMS at bay.
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Epsom salts, cold compresses, and ice baths are the most common pain relief techniques for weekend warriors and professional athletes alike. Not all are well-studied or have definitive results, Untank said.
For example, you’ll find anecdotal evidence supporting the use of Epsom salt baths after exercise. And emerging evidence suggests that cold therapy may not be as painful as everyone thinks. In a study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, for example, a three-minute ice-water immersion was ineffective in reducing DOM in a group of 40 athletes. Contrary to popular belief, research also shows that static stretching, before or after exercise, does not reduce DOMS.
So what’s behind the reviews of these other methods? While it’s entirely possible that there really is a benefit (and studies have so far not done so), the placebo effect may also be at play, Unthank says. Ultimately, it’s best to stick with science-based strategies. If you want to supplement with other techniques. Assuming it helps with your post-workout soreness (and certainly doesn’t pose a health risk), what’s the harm? If anything, these happier muscles may be all in your head.
Want more tips like this? NBC News BETTER is dedicated to finding ways to live easier, healthier and smarter lives. Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Ken Nosaka does not work for, consult with, receive stock in, or receive funding from any company or organization that benefits from this article, and has disclosed no other affiliations other than his academic references.
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It’s normal to experience muscle soreness after exercise if you’ve been active or done a certain amount of movement. This type of soreness, known as delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS, usually develops after a few hours and worsens over the next few days.
DOMS-inducing exercise consists of eccentric muscle contraction (stretching) where the contracting muscle is longer. An example of eccentric exercise is jumping stairs or inclines, where the forearm muscles hold the body weight.
Another is to use weights like dumbbells. When you slowly lower a heavy object from the elbow to an extended position, the elbow joint muscles perform an eccentric exercise because the external load (dumbbell) is greater than the force generated by the muscle.
Exercises that consist primarily of concentric contractions (shortening) where the muscles are tightened and shortened, such as climbing stairs and lifting weights, do not induce DOMS at all.
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DOMS is technically considered an indicator of “muscle damage” because muscle function decreases, and in some cases, muscle-specific proteins increase in the blood, indicating plasma membrane damage. But very few muscle fibers are actually injured or destroyed (less than 1% of total muscle fibers).
Interestingly, other structures such as the fascia (the sheath of tissue surrounding the muscle) and the connective tissue within the muscle are more affected by eccentric contractions.
A recent study published by my colleagues and I tested the hypothesis that fascia would be more sensitive than muscle when it induces DOMS. We tested the muscles of eccentric volunteers with an acupuncture needle designed to inject an increasing amount of electrical current through the tip of the muscle until they reported pain.
The results showed that DOMS is associated with increased sensitivity of the muscle fascia to stimuli, suggesting that the source of pain is the fascia (connective tissue) rather than the muscle fibers.
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We still don’t know how eccentric contractions affect the connective tissue surrounding the muscle fibers. They can have varying degrees of elasticity. Thus, when a contracting muscle is stretched, a shearing force can be created between the muscle fibers and the surrounding connective tissue. This can cause structural damage and inflammation.
Why it exists is still a mystery
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